Wireless multi-string tuner for stringed instruments and associated method of use

ABSTRACT

A stringed instrument tuner that senses the vibration of all the strings of the instrument independently and simultaneously via ultraviolet reflective light sensors that are immune to interference from ambient alternating-current lighting. The pitches of the strings are then measured continuously in real-time and transmitted wirelessly to a receiver that simultaneously graphically displays how far out-of-tune all of the strings are so that the musician can instantly see which strings need tuning and tune them quickly. The receiver may be a smartphone, smartwatch, smart glasses, computer, self-tuning system, or a dedicated wearable receiver-display unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation patent application, whichclaims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 17/200,206, which was filed on Mar. 12, 2021, herein incorporated byreference in its entirety, including without limitation, thespecification, claims, and abstract, as well as any figures, tables,appendices, or drawings thereof. This patent application also claims thebenefit of priority to (i) U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.62/989,389, filed Mar. 13, 2020, and entitled “Wireless Multi-StringTuner for Stringed Instruments and Associated Method of Use,” and (ii)U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/066,516, filed Aug. 17,2020, and entitled “Wireless Multi-String Tuner for Stringed Instrumentsand Associated Method of Use,” each of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, including without limitation, thespecifications, claims, and abstracts, as well as any figures, tables,appendices, or drawings thereof.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

APPENDIX

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND

Stringed instruments, such as guitars, violins, banjos, etc., are oftentuned with the aid of an electronic device such as an electronic tuningdevice (e.g., electronic tuner). A conventional electronic tuning deviceis usually a self-contained device that detects the vibration of asingle string of the instrument when plucked by the musician, measuresits pitch, calculates the error of this pitch based on what the correctfrequency for that string should be, and then displays the errorinformation in some fashion so that the musician can manually turntuning pegs of the instrument being tuned so as to bring the instrumentinto tune.

The vibration of the string is usually detected in one of several ways:with a microphone by listening to actual sound in the air, throughvibration detection from the body of the instrument, or by tapping ananalog electronic signal directly from an electronically amplifiedinstrument. The physical embodiment of such conventional electronictuning devices usually comprises of an enclosed electronic circuit withan integral display for a user to view if a particular string needs tobe tuned.

Each of the above-noted conventional electronic tuning devices hasrespective limitations. If the electronic tuning device uses amicrophone for sensing, it must be located close enough to theinstrument or, in the case of an electronically amplified instrument,close enough to the speakers of its amplifier to detect the sound.Further, the environment must be relatively quiet to avoid interferencefrom background noise, crowd noise and/or other instruments. This isparticularly difficult to achieve when a musician is on stage. Thismethod also requires that individual strings be plucked one at a time,as only one string can be evaluated at a time. Multiple strings playedtogether would be difficult or impossible to evaluate. They could beseparated by electronic filters, but would still have to be evaluatedone at a time. In addition, to tune the entire instrument, all of thestrings must be plucked individually to determine whether they needtuning or not. Having to evaluate strings that are already in tunewastes time.

If the electronic tuning device operates by detecting vibrations, itmust be physically connected to the body of the instrument. Devices likethis are often clamped or otherwise attached to the instrument to leavethe musician's hands free to pluck a string and turn the correspondingtuning peg while watching the display of the device. However, as in thecase of microphone-detected sound, the musician can thus only observe ordisplay the pitch information for one string at a time. Such avibration-detecting device must be attached to the instrument tofunction correctly and is best located at the top of the instrument headso that it can be seen clearly while tuning. The device must be attachedand removed with each tuning, or left attached to the instrument whileplaying where it is distracting, disrupts the balance of the instrumentand renders the device susceptible to inadvertent damage, loss, etc.,and, as with the microphone-detected devices, only one note at a timemay be tuned.

If the device taps the signal from an electronically amplifiedinstrument, it must be connected via an electrical cord or cords to theinstrument and/or its amplifier. This limits where the device can belocated, since it is tethered by the cord(s) yet must be large andbright enough and in close enough proximity to the musician that themusician can see its display. Devices like this are usually located onthe floor, near the musician's feet and among the various otherelectronic cords, with the display facing upward. This puts the devicein a high-traffic area where the unit is more likely to become damagedor lost from view.

There are references like Iijima et al, (U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,232) whichutilize photo emitting elements and photo receiving elements to producemusical sound but that does not extend to or even contemplate obtainingtuning information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not acomprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

The present application relates to an apparatus for aid in tuning astringed musical instrument, including but not limited to a small (e.g.,compact), self-contained unit that attaches to the body of a stringedinstrument, such as under the strings of the instrument. The apparatuscomprises of an outer case, which contains an electronic circuit, and,for example, a battery or batteries that provide electrical power forthe device. These batteries may be primary batteries or secondary,rechargeable batteries, in which case an integral charging (aka power)jack/port is provided for charging with a power source such as a walladapter, USB cord or other external power source or the like. Theapparatus of the present application can be attached to the instrumentvia an ordinary, removable, pressure-sensitive adhesive holding itsecurely, while still allowing for the apparatus to be removed withoutharming the instrument. The apparatus could alternately be attached tothe instrument by other attachment means including but not limited topermanent glue, magnets, suction cups, elastic straps, spring clamps,c-clamps, nails/brads, screws and/or hook-and-loop fasteners (such asVelcro), or any combination thereof. The apparatus is small and remainsremovably or permanently attached to the instrument, under the stringsof the instrument, without inconveniencing the musician in any way. Thisrepresents a substantial improvement over conventional electronic tuningdevices.

The tuning apparatus of the present application may include a circuitboard including a plurality of sensors thereon, with, for example, onesensor for each string of the instrument, sensing the vibration of eachstring independently. These sensors can be phototransistors orphotodiodes, which can be designed to detect ultraviolet (UV) lightonly. A light source is also provided on the circuit board, which emitsultraviolet light. As both incandescent and fluorescent ambient lightsources emit only minuscule amounts of ultraviolet light, with most oftheir spectrum being within the visible and infrared wavelengths oflight, the sensors of the present application sense only the light fromthe UV emitters, thereby disregarding and/or otherwise excluding theambient light. The UV light source may be in the form of a lightemitting diode (LED) or any other common type of UV source and may be inthe form of either a single UV source that illuminates all theinstrument strings simultaneously, or individual UV sources thatilluminate each string respectively. The UV emitted from the source(s)is reflected from a surface of the instrument's strings back toward theUV sensors. The sensors are sensitive to this reflected UV light andproduce an electrical voltage (in the case of a phototransistor sensor)or an electrical current (in the case of a photodiode sensor) in acircuit of the circuit board that is proportional to the amount of lightdetected by the sensor. When a string is set into vibrating motion byplucking, the amount of light reflected back onto the sensor fluctuateswith the varying distance and position of the string as it vibrates.This fluctuation in light intensity is transduced by the sensor into avarying electrical voltage or current, depending on the type of sensorthat is used. There can be a case (e.g., housing) that encloses thecircuit. The case may include slots that are so shaped as to shield thesensors from the reflections from other strings so that each sensor canonly detect the light reflecting from its corresponding string above.

In an alternative embodiment, the case may not include slots that are soshaped as to shield the sensors from the reflections from other stringsso that each sensor can only detect the light reflecting from itscorresponding string above. When placing the reflective sensors underthe instrument strings it is necessary that they be located far enoughaway from the strings so as not to interfere with the playing of theinstrument, yet close enough to sense the string's vibration as theamplitude of the plucked string decays and for a time long enough to bepractical for executing the tuning procedure without requiring theconstant strumming of the strings. For this reason, prismatic lenses maybe located over each sensor. These lenses are made from a solid,transparent material such as acrylic or polycarbonate plastic, glass,epoxy, or any other optically clear material and shaped in the form ofan isosceles triangle, symmetric about the plane passing through thecenter line of the object string and the center of the sensor. Thelenses serve two purposes. Firstly, they converge reflected light fromthe object string directly overhead by refracting the light inward,intensifying the light contacting the photosensor and increasing itseffect. This allows the string to be detected from farther away and withsmaller vibrations so that the signal can be accurately measured over alonger decay period. The second purpose of the prismatic lenses is toreject light reflected from adjacent strings that would interfere withthe signal from the object string. Light reflecting from adjacentstrings enters the prismatic lens from a more oblique angle than lightreflected from the object string directly above. Consequently, thoughthe light is refracted downward toward the sensor as it enters theprism, when it passes on to the bottom inner surface of the prism,

sin φ₀=n_(a) sin φ_(a)

nearest the sensor, and attempts to exit, the light is reflected backinto the prism and does not pass through to the sensor. This is due tothe fact that the light strikes the inner surface of the lens at anangle greater than the so-called critical angle of the refractivematerial. The angle of refraction ϕ^(a) of a transparent solid isrelated to the angle of incidence ϕ₀ by the formula:

-   where n_(a) is the index of refraction, which is an intrinsic    property for a given material. For most common types of glass and    transparent plastics this index is in the range of 1.5-1.6. As the    angle of incidence increases, the angle of refraction eventually    becomes so great that it reaches 90° and light is reflected back    into the refractive material and no light passes through. So the    sine of the angle of refraction becomes sin 90°=1. The angle of    incidence is then known as the critical angle ϕ_(c) determined by    the formula

${\sin\varphi_{c}} = \frac{1}{n_{a}}$

Any light striking the solid-to-air interface of the prism with agreater angle than the critical angle will be reflected back into theprism and not pass downwardly into the air at that interface. Formaterials with refractive indexes in the range 1.5-1.6 this angle wouldbe in the range 38.7°-41.8°. The light reflected from the adjacentstrings of a standard guitar strike an angle greater than this limit andthus are reflected and eliminated from the light contacting thephotosensor. The light from the object string above, however, would bewell within the critical angle limit and all of its reflected lightwould pass through the lens and on to the photosensor.

The sensors may generate/output a small amplitude signal which is thenconverted to a larger amplitude signal by an amplifier and passed on toa circuit element such as a comparator, for example a zero-crossingdetector (ZCD). The ZCD then converts this wave into a digital squarewave that thus has a frequency equal to the pitch of the vibratingstring. Each string of the instrument has a dedicated sensor, amplifierand comparator (e.g., zero-crossing device, ZCD), and each produces anindividual and independent square wave signal. The digital square wavesproduced by these circuits, one from each instrument string, are thenconnected to separate, discrete inputs of a microcontroller chip wheretheir individual pitches are evaluated. The pitches are determined bymeasuring the time for one complete cycle (period) of the square wave,or the time between a low-to-high transition of the square wave and itsnext low-to-high transition. This can, for example, be measured veryaccurately by counting pulses of the microprocessor's clock that occurduring this period. The microprocessor clock has a very high and precisefrequency, such as on the order of tens of megahertz, so the resultingperiod measurement is extremely accurate. The microcontroller chip canbe configured so that each of the inputs generates its own interruptroutine in the microcontroller program. These interrupts cause themicrocontroller to immediately execute a special subroutine in itsprogram where a timer/counter for each string can be read and reset. Theaction of this reading takes, for example, less than a microsecond andprogram execution is then immediately available for any otherinterrupts. In this way, the pitches of all the instrument strings canbe measured simultaneously with the same microcontroller.

These period measurement values are then sent to a wireless datatransmitter chip located on the same circuit board, using a wirelessdata protocol such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or the like. Many microcontrollerchips include integral wireless data transmitters onboard which obviatesthe need for a separate chip. Thus, the wireless functionality may be byway of a separate chip or be integral within the microcontroller. Thewireless data transmitter then transmits the string pitch values viaelectromagnetic radio waves from an integral antenna to a distantwireless data receiver/transceiver, which could be a smartphone, amobile tablet/laptop computer, a wearable device, or any other devicewith a wireless data receiver/transceiver or access to Wi-Fi. Thewireless transceiver can also receive information or commands from aremote unit for use, such as in turning the ultraviolet LEDs on and off,etc. The communication protocol for most wireless systems also allowsfor multiple devices to communicate, so that a musician could, forexample, use both his smartphone and a wearable device simultaneously,if desired. An application program in the receiving device then comparesthe pitch values to their correct musical pitches stored in its memoryand calculates the pitch errors. This error is then translated into agraphical form via a display. The display can be the screen of anexisting smartphone, smartwatch, smart glasses, computer, or adedicated, wearable receiver-display unit using a graphic screen such asa liquid crystal display (LCD), organic light-emitting diode (OLED), orany other form of electronic graphic display. In the case of aself-tuning instrument, the error information can be received and usedin automatically tuning the instrument, which could be performedsimultaneously for all strings.

A preferred embodiment of the display device would be a wearableelectronic display that receives the wireless pitch values via anelectronic wireless transceiver and antenna and graphically displaysthem on an LCD, LED, OLED, TFT or similar type of display and attachesto the musician in a location where the musician can easily see thetuning information yet leave their hands free to tune the instrument,which generally requires the use of both hands (one to turn the tuningpegs and the other to strum the strings). One such location is on themusician's arm. In this embodiment a securing band is attached aroundthe musician's wrist, forearm, upper arm, knee, hand or other locationof convenient visibility to the musician. This band can be an elasticmaterial, such as a sweat band, or can be fastened with hook-and-loopfastener (such as Velcro), a buckle, tied in a knot/bow or any othercommon method for securing a band. To this band is permanently attacheda small piece of ferromagnetic metal, such as a steel washer. To thereceiver/display unit is permanently attached a small, powerfulpermanent magnet. When the band is worn on the body, thetransceiver/display unit may then be attached magnetically in anyconvenient orientation that is most easily read by the musician. Themagnet then firmly holds the transceiver/display in its optimal positionwhile the musician plays music and is immediately available for use intuning the instrument at any time. An added benefit of the permanentmagnet is that the musician can also wear the arm band under along-sleeved shirt and the magnetic attraction will still affix thetransceiver/display through the sleeve fabric. Alternately, if a band isundesirable, the transceiver/display unit can be attached directly tothe musician's skin via spirit gum or double-adhesive tape such as thetype used to attach a toupee or wig. The transceiver/display unit mayalso be attached to any other convenient surface, such as the musician'samplifier, a microphone stand, on a small easel or tripod, under thebill of a hat, etc. The transceiver/display can be activated by touchingthe screen, in the case of a touchscreen, pressing a switch/button,using a smartphone via wireless communication, or using a hand gesturedetected with an ordinary gesture sensor on the display unit.

An additional embodiment of the wearable transceiver/display deviceentails attaching the transceiver/display device to a pair of glasses(e.g., eyeglasses or sunglasses) worn by the musician. This serves as alow-cost and convenient alternative to using the general-purpose smartglasses on the market, which are currently very expensive and have lowadoption. Since the main visual information required to tune theinstrument includes the bar graphs and the letter names of the notesbeing tuned, this simple information can be easily depicted on a long,narrow display. The display can be an OLED, TFT, or any other displaymethod that offers a relatively bright, high-contrast image. The face ofthis display is mounted to the inner side of an eyeglass temple,directed inward toward the musician's head and its image is reflectednear the inner side of the spectacle lens and toward the wearer's eye.If the reflector were flat and at a right angle to the surface of thedisplay, it would appear before the wearer and to the side, but would betoo close to the eye for most people to focus clearly. To compensate forthis, the present invention uses a thin, transparent, sphericallyconcave reflector. The concave shape converges the reflected light fromthe display, similar to the refractive effect of a convex lens andcompensates for the close proximity, much like reading glasses. Thisreflector can be constructed from inexpensive clear plastic film,vacuum-formed, blow-molded, or injection molded to the proper radius ofcurvature. The reflector can be attached as an integral extension of thetemple transceiver/display unit or can be a separate piece, attached tothe inner surface of the eyeglasses via an adhesive backing. The displayimage, having a relatively high brightness and contrast, partiallyreflects from the shiny plastic surface of the reflector and can be seenin the wearer's field of vision, yet the transparent reflector alsoallows light from in front of the wearer to pass through normally. Sincethe reflector material is of a uniform thickness, there is no distortionof objects beyond it due to refraction and because it is very thin thereis negligible double-imaging, due to reflection from outer and innersurfaces of the reflector material. In this way, the concave shape ofthe reflector allows it to focus the partially-reflected image of thedisplay, but still allows light to pass through from beyond thereflector without hindering the wearer's perception of his surroundings.Of course, the image is only visible when the display is switched on,during the tuning procedure, and is not present at other times, beingswitched back off manually or automatically when tuning is complete. Thereflector can be constructed from any clear, rigid material, butpreferably from an inexpensive material such as polyethyleneterephthalate (PETE) plastic, like that used in clear disposable plasticcups, so that it can be easily and economically replaced when it becomeslost, scratched, worn or damaged, and can also be offered in differentprescription strengths, much like reading glasses, by offering anassortment of different radii of curvature of the concave shape,altering its focal length. Since the reflected image of the displayappears at an oblique angle to the viewer, rather than directly beforethe viewer, the image appears compressed left-to-right. To compensatefor this, the letters and graphs of the display image are represented inan elongated fashion, left to right, so that they appear wide and squatwhen viewed head-on, but appear to be of normal proportion when viewedat an oblique angle, similar to painted roadway messages to be viewedfrom within a vehicle. The temple of a pair of eyeglasses isparticularly well-suited for this application since it allows a long,narrow area to be displayed. The temple transceiver/display unitincludes an integral microcontroller and a wireless transceiver circuitthat receives pitch data from the ultraviolet sensor unit on the guitarand can send commands, communicating via radio waves. Since it would beawkward to use buttons or a touchscreen on such a tiny unit, the circuitincludes a gesture sensor on the outer-facing side of the circuit board(directed to the side, away from the user's head), such as an AvagoAPDS-9960, which uses four infrared photodiodes to detect gestures andmotions in various directions and configurations (wherein other gesturesensor models are capable of being used). With the proper softwarelibraries provided by the manufacturer, it is easy for themicrocontroller to distinguish between up, down, right and left gesturesnear the sensor as well as more complex motions. There are myriad waysthat this can be used as an input to the temple transceiver/display unitto generate and manipulate screens and functions. For example, a forwardwave of the musician's hand near his ear could signal the unit to turnon and send a wireless signal to the ultraviolet string sensor unit tostart measuring and sending data. A backward wave could trigger thedisplay to show a menu of various tuning schemes. These tuning schemescould be perused by an upward or downward motion of the hand/fingers toscroll up and down through the list of stored tuning schemes. Thesegestures are mere examples of how gesture control could be implementedand do not limit and/or preclude other gestures from being used.

The apparatus of the present application is operated by strumming all ofthe strings of the instrument together and allowing them to sustain(e.g., ring out). Alternately, the strings can also be plucked one at atime, resulting in only the appropriate string graph being displayed, toisolate a string for easier interpretation by the musician. The tuningprocess is initiated either by an input (touchscreen, keypad, switch,etc.) to the wireless receiving/transceiving device, or at the sensordevice on the instrument via an input, which may be a touch switch,pushbutton, slide switch, or an optical or capacitive device that sensesa gesture by the musician. Since the transceiver/display unit receivespitch information from each string, the musician can also communicatewith it by playing specific musical notes to send various commands whichare interpreted and executed by the transceiver/display unit.

The device then automatically calculates pitch errors as previouslyexplained and transmits them via radio waves, continuously in real time,as the strings vibrate. The receiver interprets these errors andgraphically displays them for all the strings simultaneously. A bargraph or other graphical representation for each string showsanalogously the amount and direction (sharp or flat) of the strings'errors. The graphs for strings that are already in-tune are shown usingthe same color, shape, intensity and/or representation on the display.The graphs for strings that are out-of-tune are shown in a contrastingcolor, shape, intensity and/or representation. In this way, the musiciancan immediately spot and tune only the strings that currently needtuning, which allows for quick, periodic “checking” of the instrument tosee if it even needs tuning at all. Furthermore, the graphs can bearranged on the display in a similar configuration to how the tuningpegs of the instrument are arranged on its head. For example, instrumentheads with three pegs on one side and three on the other would use aprogram that shows two columns of three graphs each on the display, justas the pegs appear to the musician on the instrument. Instrument headswith all six pegs on one side would use a graphic display that shows asingle column of six graphs. Additionally, the graphic can include arepresentation or photograph depicting the head of the instrument forfurther clarity. Thus, the musician can simply look at the display andinstantly know which pegs to turn and in which direction to turn them.The instrument's configuration is selectable in the settings of theapplication program, depending on which type of instrument is beingtuned. In addition to standard tuning, the apparatus of the presentapplication can be configured to allow for the musician to selectdifferent types of tunings such as, “drop D” tuning, slide-guitartuning, historic temperaments, etc. Such selection of tuning typedecides which group of stored “correct” pitches are used as standards ofcomparison (e.g., for finding/displaying error information) during thetuning process.

Most present tuning devices that use a graphical representation of theinstrument's pitch do so in the form of a segmented bar graph in eitherlinear or circular form where each degree of tuning error is representedby aligned “bars” in the graph. Bars increase or decrease in number toindicate how far out-of-tune a string is. This type of graph can becomedifficult to read when nearing the in-tune state, since the differencebetween in-tune and one bar out-of-tune is the thickness of a singlepixel or LED bar light on the display. It is also difficult to tell if abar that is two pixels thick is a bar out-of-tune “sharp”, or too highin pitch, or a bar out-of-tune “flat”, or too low in pitch. The presentinvention uses a high-resolution display that allows graphs, diagrams orphotos of any shape or size to be produced. Rather than graph bars thatare parallel with, and identical to, the “in-tune” bar, the presentinvention displays a shrinking/expanding solid box that is lateral tothe central, in-tune bar. As the string becomes closer to being in-tune,the box shrinks in width, eventually down to a single vertical line,then disappears when the string is in tune, leaving only the central,horizontal, in-tune line. This shrinking box appears above thecenterline when the string is out-of-tune “sharp” and below the line fornotes that are out-of-tune “flat” making it obvious which direction themusician needs to turn the tuning peg to tune the string. The goal forthe musician is to be left with just the horizontal, in-tune line. Ifthe string is off by even a slight amount, it is obvious whether it issharp or flat by the direction of the lateral graph/line. When a stringis out-of-tune so far that the box expands to fill the available width,the box blinks to indicate that the string is out of range, blinkingabove the horizontal line for “out of range sharp” and below the linefor “out of range flat”. This is particularly important when switchingtuning schemes, since the new scheme will involve some different notes,outside the range of where some of the strings are presently tuned. Ifthe signal from a string is lost, either because the string amplitudehas decayed away (or because of a malfunction) the center, “in-tune”line disappears entirely. This is an indication to the musician that thestring(s) need to be strummed again. All of these graph features add tothe speed, accuracy and convenience of the tuning procedure and are animprovement over the existing art. Of course, the graphs could also berotated ninety degrees, where the in-tune line is vertical and thelateral boxes extend to the right or left, rather than top and bottom.

Additional embodiments of the present invention are as follows.

One embodiment includes a tuning device for tuning a stringed musicalinstrument including at least one string that is configured to vibrate,the tuning device comprising: a housing configured to be mounted to abody of the stringed musical instrument, the housing including a cavity;and a printed circuit board stored in the cavity, the printed circuitboard including a controller, a light emitter, and a light sensor,wherein the light emitter is configured to emit light of a certainfrequency in a direction of a surface of a vibrating string of thestringed musical instrument, a portion of the emitted light is reflectedfrom the surface of the vibrating string in a direction toward the lightsensor, the light sensor is configured to sense the reflected light andgenerate a first output representative of the reflected light, and thecontroller receives and processes the first output to determine a pitchof the vibrating string. The light emitter can comprise an ultravioletlight-emitting diode, and the light sensor can comprise an ultravioletlight photodiode or ultraviolet light phototransistor. The printedcircuit board can further include an amplifier and a comparator, whereinthe amplifier is configured to amplify the first output and generate asecond output serving as an input for the comparator, the comparator isconfigured to convert the second output to a third output serving as aninput to the controller, and the controller processes the third outputto generate a fourth output. The printed circuit board can furtherinclude a wireless transmitter. The controller can be configured totransmit the fourth output to the wireless transmitter, and the wirelesstransmitter is configured to wirelessly transmit data representative ofthe fourth output to a remote device that is configured to process thedata with a processor of the remote device to generate a graphicalrepresentation of the data. The remote device can include a displayconfigured to display the graphical representation to a user of thestringed musical instrument, such that the graphical representationserves to assist the user in tuning the stringed musical instrument. Theprinted circuit board can further include a battery. The printed circuitboard can further include a power port configured to receive electricalpower from an external power source. The battery can be a rechargeablebattery configured to recharged by the received electrical power. Theexternal power source can comprise a power adapter.

Another embodiment includes a method of tuning a stringed musicalinstrument comprising at least one string configured to vibrate, thestringed musical instrument including a housing mounted to a body of thestringed musical instrument, the housing including a cavity having aprinted circuit board stored therein, the printed circuit boardincluding a controller, a light emitter, and a light sensor, the methodcomprising: emitting, via the light emitter, light of a certainfrequency in a direction of a surface of a vibrating string of thestringed musical instrument, a portion of the emitted light beingreflected from the surface of the vibrating string in a direction towardthe light sensor; sensing, via the light sensor, the reflected light;generating, via the light sensor, a first output representative of thereflected light; receiving, via the controller, the first output; andprocessing, via the controller, the first output to determine a pitch ofthe vibrating string.

Another embodiment includes a computer program product for a tuningdevice for tuning a stringed musical instrument comprising at least onestring configured to vibrate and a housing configured to be mounted to abody of the stringed musical instrument, the housing including a cavityand having a printed circuit board stored in the cavity, the printedcircuit board including a controller, a light emitter, and a lightsensor, the computer program product comprising: a plurality ofinstructions resident on a non-transitory computer-readable recordingmedium, wherein the instructions are executable by a processor to causethe processor to control: emitting, via the light emitter, of light of acertain frequency in a direction of a surface of a vibrating string ofthe stringed musical instrument, a portion of the emitted light beingreflected from the surface of the vibrating string in a direction towardthe light sensor; sensing, via the light sensor, the reflected light;generating, via the light sensor, a first output representative of thereflected light; receiving, via the controller, the first output; andprocessing, via the controller, the first output to determine a pitch ofthe vibrating string.

Another embodiment includes a tuning device for tuning a stringedmusical instrument comprising a plurality of strings configured tovibrate, the tuning device comprising: a housing configured to bemounted to a body of the stringed musical instrument, the housingincluding a cavity and a plurality of slots; and a printed circuit boardstored in the cavity, the printed circuit board including a controller,a plurality of light emitters, and a plurality of light sensors, whereinrespective ones of the plurality of light emitters and light sensors arearranged as a plurality of emitter-sensor pairs comprising one lightemitter and one light sensor per pair, and each emitter-sensor pair ispositioned to protrude into a corresponding slot from amongst theplurality of slots of the housing, respectively, with each slot of theplurality of slots being positioned in a location underneath arespective string of the plurality of strings of the stringed musicalinstrument, the plurality of strings being configured to individuallyvibrate, and wherein each light emitter of the emitter-sensor pairs isconfigured to emit light of a certain frequency in a direction of asurface of a corresponding vibrating string of the stringed musicalinstrument, a portion of the emitted light from each light emitter isreflected from the surface of the corresponding vibrating string in adirection toward the corresponding light sensor, each light sensor isconfigured to sense the corresponding reflected light and generate arespective output representative of the corresponding reflected lightfor each vibrating string, and the controller receives and processes theoutputs to independently and simultaneously determine a pitch of eachvibrating string.

Another embodiment includes a method of tuning a stringed musicalinstrument comprising a plurality of strings configured to vibrate, thestringed musical instrument further including a housing mounted to abody of the stringed musical instrument, the housing including a cavityand a plurality of slots, and a printed circuit board stored in thecavity, the printed circuit board including a controller, a plurality oflight emitters, and a plurality of light sensors, wherein respectiveones of the plurality of light emitters and light sensors are arrangedas a plurality of emitter-sensor pairs comprising one light emitter andone light sensor per pair, and each emitter-sensor pair is positioned toprotrude into a corresponding slot from amongst the plurality of slotsof the housing, respectively, with each slot of the plurality of slotsbeing positioned in a location underneath a respective string of theplurality of strings of the stringed musical instrument, the pluralityof strings being configured to individually vibrate, the methodcomprising: emitting, via each light emitter of the emitter-sensorpairs, light of a certain frequency in a direction of a surface of acorresponding vibrating string of the stringed musical instrument, aportion of the emitted light from each light emitter is reflected fromthe surface of the corresponding vibrating string in a direction towardthe corresponding light sensor; sensing, via each light sensor, thecorresponding reflected light; generating, via each light sensor, arespective output representative of the corresponding reflected lightfor each vibrating string; receiving, via the controller, the outputs;and processing, via the controller, the outputs to independently andsimultaneously determine a pitch of each vibrating string. The printedcircuit board can further include a wireless transmitter, and the methodcan further comprise: transmitting the processed outputs to the wirelesstransmitter; wirelessly transmitting, via the wireless transmitter, datarepresentative of the processed outputs to a remote device that isconfigured to process the data with a processor of the remote device togenerate a graphical representation of the data. The method can furthercomprise displaying, via a display of the remote device, the graphicalrepresentation to a user of the stringed musical instrument, such thatthe graphical representation serves to assist the user in tuning thestringed musical instrument. The graphical representation can include avisualization that dynamically indicates the tuning position of eachstring of the stringed musical instrument. The graphical representationcan be displayed on the display of the remote device via an applicationprogram present on the remote device.

Another embodiment include a computer program product for a tuningdevice for tuning a stringed musical instrument comprising a pluralityof strings configured to vibrate, the stringed musical instrumentfurther including a housing mounted to a body of the stringed musicalinstrument, the housing including a cavity and a plurality of slots, anda printed circuit board stored in the cavity, the printed circuit boardincluding a controller, a plurality of light emitters, and a pluralityof light sensors, wherein respective ones of the plurality of lightemitters and light sensors are arranged as a plurality of emitter-sensorpairs comprising one light emitter and one light sensor per pair, andeach emitter-sensor pair is positioned to protrude into a correspondingslot from amongst the plurality of slots of the housing, respectively,with each slot of the plurality of slots being positioned in a locationunderneath a respective string of the plurality of strings of thestringed musical instrument, the plurality of strings being configuredto individually vibrate, the computer program product comprising aplurality of instructions resident on a non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium, wherein the instructions are executable by a processorto cause the processor to control: emitting, via each light emitter ofthe emitter-sensor pairs, light of a certain frequency in a direction ofa surface of a corresponding vibrating string of the stringed musicalinstrument, a portion of the emitted light from each light emitter isreflected from the surface of the corresponding vibrating string in adirection toward the corresponding light sensor; sensing, via each lightsensor, the corresponding reflected light; generating, via each lightsensor, a respective output representative of the correspondingreflected light for each vibrating string; receiving, via thecontroller, the outputs; and processing, via the controller, the outputsto independently and simultaneously determine a pitch of each vibratingstring.

Another embodiment includes a tuning device for tuning a stringedmusical instrument including at least one string that is configured tovibrate, the tuning device comprising: a housing configured to bemounted to a body of the stringed musical instrument; and a printedcircuit board stored in the housing, the printed circuit board includinga controller, a light emitter, and a light sensing assembly, wherein thelight emitter is configured to emit light of a certain frequency in adirection of a surface of a vibrating string of the stringed musicalinstrument, a portion of the emitted light is reflected from the surfaceof the vibrating string in a direction toward the light sensingassembly, the light sensing assembly is configured to sense thereflected light and generate a first output representative of thereflected light, and the controller receives and processes the firstoutput to determine a pitch of the vibrating string. The light sensingassembly can include a light sensor and a lens is mounted atop the lightsensor, the light emitter is an ultraviolet light-emitting diode, andthe light sensor is an ultraviolet light photodiode or ultraviolet lightphototransistor. The lens can be configured to focus light to a sensingportion of the light sensor. The printed circuit board can furtherinclude a wireless transmitter. The controller can be configured totransmit the first output to the wireless transmitter, and the wirelesstransmitter is configured to wirelessly transmit data representative ofthe first output to a remote device that is configured to process thedata with a processor of the remote device to generate a graphicalrepresentation of the data. The remote device can include a displayconfigured to display the graphical representation to a user of thestringed musical instrument, such that the graphical representationserves to assist the user in tuning the stringed musical instrument. Theprinted circuit board and the remote device can each include a battery.

Another embodiment includes a tuning kit for tuning a stringed musicalinstrument including at least one string that is configured to vibrate,the tuning kit comprising: a tuner module configured to be mounted to abody of the stringed musical instrument, the tuner module including afirst processing circuit, a light processing assembly, and firstwireless communication electronics, wherein the light processingassembly is configured to receive light representing a vibrationcharacteristic of a vibrating string of the stringed musical instrument;and a receiving display remote from the tuner module and including asecond processing circuit, an interface, and second wirelesscommunication electronics, wherein the first and second wirelesscommunication electronics are configured to wirelessly communicate withone another, a first output of the light processing assembly, which isrepresentative of the vibration characteristic, is received andprocessed by the first processing circuit, the processed first output iswirelessly transmitted, via the first wireless communicationelectronics, to the second wireless communication electronics, andprocessed by the second processing circuit to generate dynamic tuninginformation of the vibrating string, and a visualization of thegenerated dynamic tuning information is displayed on the interface. Thelight processing assembly can include a light emitter and a lightsensor, the light emitter is configured to emit light of a certainfrequency in a direction of a surface of the vibrating string of thestringed musical instrument, a portion of the emitted light is reflectedfrom the surface of the vibrating string in a direction toward the lightsensor, the light sensor is configured to sense the reflected light andgenerate the first output of the light processing assembly, and thefirst processor circuit receives and processes the first output of thelight processing assembly to determine a pitch of the vibrating string,the dynamic tuning information comprising the determined pitch, and thevisualization graphically displaying the determined pitch on theinterface. The vibrating string can comprise a plurality of vibratingstrings, the light processing assembly comprises a plurality of lightemitters and light sensors, each respective light emitter of theplurality of light emitters being proximate to a respective vibratingstring of the plurality of vibrating strings such that there is aone-to-one correspondence between each light emitter and each vibratingstring, each respective light emitter being adjacent a respective lightsensor of the plurality of light sensors such that there is a one-to-onecorrespondence between each light emitter and each light sensor, thefirst output of the light processing assembly comprising a plurality ofoutputs, each of the plurality of outputs being representative of arespective vibration characteristic of each vibrating string, each lightemitter being configured to emit light of a certain frequency in adirection of a surface of the proximate vibrating string, a portion ofeach emitted light is reflected from the surface of each proximatevibrating string in a direction toward the proximate light sensor, eachrespective light sensor being configured to sense the respectivereflected light and generate a respective output of the plurality ofoutputs, and the first processor circuit receives and processes therespective outputs to determine a pitch of each vibrating string, thedynamic tuning information comprising the determined pitches, and thevisualization graphically displaying the determined pitchessimultaneously on the interface. The light processing assembly canfurther include a lens, and the lens can be mounted on a top surface ofthe light sensor. The interface can comprise a display screen, thesecond processing circuit executes a program to display thevisualization on the display screen, and the visualization comprisesactivation of pixels of the display screen to produce a graphicalrepresentation of the generated dynamic tuning information. Thegraphical representation can include a center portion, a first portionabove or to the left of the center portion, and a second portion belowor to the right of the center portion. The dynamic tuning informationcan include a pitch level determined by a second processing circuit bythe activation of pixels comprises activation of pixels in (i) a pixelregion defining the center portion, (ii) a pixel region defining thefirst portion, and (iii) a pixel region defining the second portion,where activation of pixels of the center portion pixel region indicatesa first pitch, activation of pixels of the first portion pixel regionpixel indicates a second pitch, and activation of pixels of the secondportion pixel region pixel indicates a third pitch, each of the first,second and third pitch being different from one another. An amount ofpixels activated in the activation of the pixels can be proportional toa detected level of pitch within a defined pitch range. The receivingdisplay can comprise a wearable electronics device. The wearableelectronics device can include a securing mechanism. The securingmechanism can be a band that is configured to removably secure thewearable electronics device to a body part of a user of the tuning kit.The securing mechanism can be a clip that is configured to allow forremovably securing the wearable electronics device to a pair ofeyeglasses worn by a user of the tuning kit. The band can comprise afirst magnetic material, the wearable electronics device can comprise asecond magnetic material, and the first and second magnetic materialscan be configured to attract to one another to allow for removablysecuring the wearable electronics device to the securing band. Thewearable electronics device can further comprise a reflector, theinterface can comprise a display screen of the wearable electronicsdevice, and the reflector can be configured to (i) receive lightrepresentative of a primary image displayed on the display screen, and(ii) provide for formation of a secondary image in a viewing plane thatextends beyond a frame of the eyeglasses, such that the secondary imageis viewable to a user of the tuning kit that is wearing the eyeglasses.The secondary image can be a reflected representation of the primaryimage. The reflector can comprise a transparent material and has aconcave spherical shape.

Another embodiment includes a method of tuning a stringed musicalinstrument comprising at least one string configured to vibrate, thestringed musical instrument including a housing mounted to a body of thestringed musical instrument, the housing including a printed circuitboard stored therein, the printed circuit board including a controller,a light emitter, and a light sensing assembly, the method comprising:emitting, via the light emitter, light of a certain frequency in adirection of a surface of a vibrating string of the stringed musicalinstrument, a portion of the emitted light being reflected from thesurface of the vibrating string in a direction toward the light sensor;sensing, via the light sensing assembly, the reflected light;generating, via the light sensing assembly, a first outputrepresentative of the reflected light; receiving, via the controller,the first output; and processing, via the controller, the first outputto determine a pitch of the vibrating string. The light sensing assemblycan includes a lens and a photosensor.

Another embodiment includes a method of tuning a stringed musicalinstrument including at least one string configured to vibrate, themethod comprising: installing a tuner module on a body of the stringedmusical instrument, the tuner module including a first processingcircuit, a light emitter, a light processing assembly, and firstwireless communication electronics, wherein the light emitter isconfigured to emit light of a certain frequency in a direction of the atleast one string, and the light processing assembly is configured toreceive reflected light from a surface of the at least one string, thereflected light representing a pitch characteristic of the at least onestring when the at least one string is vibrating; placing a receivingdisplay on an object at a remote location from the tuner module, thereceiving display including a second processing circuit, an interface,and second wireless communication electronics, wherein the first andsecond wireless communication electronics are configured to wirelesslycommunicate with one another, and the remote location is a location atwhich the first and second wireless communication electronics are withinrange of one another so as to be able to wirelessly communicate with oneanother; placing both the tuner module and the receiving display in apower-on operative state; selecting a tuning mode of the receivingdisplay, the tuning mode including at least one pre-programmed pitch;manipulating the at least one string to cause the at least one string tovibrate; emitting, via the light emitter, the light of a certainfrequency in the direction of the vibrating at least one string;sensing, via the light processing assembly, the reflected lightrepresenting the pitch characteristic; outputting an electronic signalfrom the light processing assembly, the electronic signal beingrepresentative of the pitch characteristic; receiving, via the firstprocessing circuit, the outputted electronic signal; processing, via thefirst processing circuit, the received electronic signal; transmitting,via the first wireless communication electronics, the processedelectronic signal to the second wireless communication electronics toserve as an input signal for the receiving display; receiving, via thesecond wireless communication electronics, the transmitted input signal;processing, via the second processing circuit, the received inputsignal; determining, from the processed input signal, a pitch of thepitch characteristic; dynamically calculating a pitch difference betweenthe determined pitch and the at least one pre-programmed pitch;generating a dynamic visualization viewable on the interface, thedynamic visualization representing the dynamically calculated pitchdifference; and tuning the at least one string to the at-least onepre-programmed pitch based on the dynamic visualization. The at leastone string can comprise a plurality of strings, the light emitter cancomprise a plurality of light emitters, each respective light emitter ofthe plurality of light emitters can be arranged adjacent each respectivestring of the plurality of strings such that there is a one-to-onecorrespondence between each light emitter and each string; the lightprocessing assembly can include a plurality of light sensors, eachrespective light sensor can be adjacent each respective light emittersuch that there is a one-to-one correspondence between each light sensorand each light emitter, and each respective light sensor can beconfigured to receive reflected light from a surface of thecorresponding respective string, the reflected light from each surfaceof the strings representing a pitch characteristic of each respectivestring when each respective string is vibrating; the at least onepre-programmed pitch can comprise a pre-programmed pitch for each of theplurality of strings, the electronic signal can comprise a plurality ofelectronic signals, the input signal can comprise a plurality of inputsignals, and the pitch difference can comprise a plurality of pitchdifferences. The method can further comprise manipulating the pluralityof strings to cause each of the plurality of strings to vibrate;emitting, via each respective light emitter, light of a certainfrequency in a direction of the corresponding respective vibratingstring; sensing, via each corresponding respective light sensor,reflected light representing the pitch characteristic of eachcorresponding respective vibrating string; outputting the plurality ofelectronic signals from the light processing assembly, the electronicsignals being representative of the pitch characteristic of eachcorresponding respective vibrating string, each respective pitchcharacteristic corresponding to a respective pre-programmed pitch suchthat there is a one-to-one correspondence between each pitchcharacteristic and each pre-programmed pitch; receiving, via the firstprocessing circuit, the outputted electronic signals; processing, viathe first processing circuit, the received electronic signals;transmitting, via the first wireless communication electronics, theprocessed electronic signals to the second wireless communicationelectronics to serve as the input signals for the receiving display;receiving, via the second wireless communication electronics, thetransmitted input signals; processing, via the second processingcircuit, the received input signals; determining, from the processedinput signal, a pitch of each pitch characteristic of the correspondingrespective strings; dynamically calculating the pitch differencesbetween each determined pitch and the corresponding pre-programmedpitch; generating a dynamic visualization viewable on the interface, thedynamic visualization representing the dynamically calculated pitchdifferences; and tuning each of the plurality of strings to thecorresponding respective pre-programmed pitch based on the dynamicvisualization. The object at the remote location can comprise (i) aviewing surface upon which the receiving display is located, or (ii) abody part of a user of the receiving display, the receiving displaybeing attached to the body part. The receiving display can be configuredto mount to eyeglasses of the user, such that when the user is wearingthe eyeglasses, an image displayed on the interface is viewable by theuser.

Another embodiment includes a method of tuning a stringed musicalinstrument including at least one string configured to vibrate, thestringed musical instrument comprising a tuner module and a receivingdisplay, the tuner module being mounted on a portion of a body of thestringed musical instrument, the receiving display being mounted at alocation different from that of the tuner module, the tuner moduleincluding a first processing circuit, a light emitter, a lightprocessing assembly, and first wireless communication electronics,wherein the light emitter is configured to emit light of a certainfrequency in a direction of the at least one string, and the lightprocessing assembly is configured to receive reflected light from asurface of the at least one string, the reflected light representing apitch characteristic of the at least one string when the at least onestring is vibrating, the tuner module including a paired receivingdisplay, the receiving display including a second processing circuit, aninterface, and second wireless communication electronics, wherein thefirst and second wireless communication electronics are configured towirelessly communicate with one another, and a distance between thelocation of the receiving display and the tuner module is such that thefirst and second wireless communication electronics are within range ofone another and able to wirelessly communicate with one another, themethod comprising: placing both the tuner module and the receivingdisplay in a power-on operative state; selecting a tuning mode of thereceiving display, the tuning mode including at least one pre-programmedpitch; manipulating the at least one string to cause the at least onestring to vibrate; emitting, via the light emitter, the light of acertain frequency in the direction of the vibrating at least one string;sensing, via the light processing assembly, the reflected lightrepresenting the pitch characteristic; outputting an electronic signalfrom the light processing assembly, the electronic signal beingrepresentative of the pitch characteristic; receiving, via the firstprocessing circuit, the outputted electronic signal; processing, via thefirst processing circuit, the received electronic signal; transmitting,via the first wireless communication electronics, the processedelectronic signal to the second wireless communication electronics toserve as an input signal for the receiving display; receiving, via thesecond wireless communication electronics, the transmitted input signal;processing, via the second processing circuit, the received inputsignal; determining, from the processed input signal, a pitch of thepitch characteristic; dynamically calculating a pitch difference betweenthe determined pitch and the at least one pre-programmed pitch;generating a dynamic visualization viewable on the interface, thedynamic visualization representing the dynamically calculated pitchdifference; and tuning the at least one string to the at-least onepre-programmed pitch based on the dynamic visualization.

Another embodiment includes a computer program product for a tuning kitfor tuning a stringed musical instrument, the stringed musicalinstrument including at least one string configured to vibrate, thetuning kit comprising a tuner module and a receiving display, the tunermodule being mounted on a portion of a body of the stringed musicalinstrument, the receiving display being mounted at a location differentfrom that of the tuner module, the tuner module including a firstprocessing circuit, a light emitter, a light processing assembly, andfirst wireless communication electronics, wherein the light emitter isconfigured to emit light of a certain frequency in a direction of the atleast one string, and the light processing assembly is configured toreceive reflected light from a surface of the at least one string, thereflected light representing a pitch characteristic of the at least onestring when the at least one string is vibrating, the tuner moduleincluding a paired receiving display, the receiving display including asecond processing circuit, an interface, and second wirelesscommunication electronics, wherein the first and second wirelesscommunication electronics are configured to wirelessly communicate withone another, and a distance between the location of the receivingdisplay and the tuner module is such that the first and second wirelesscommunication electronics are within range of one another and able towirelessly communicate with one another, the computer program productcomprising a plurality of tuner module instructions resident on anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium of the tuner module,wherein the tuner module instructions are executable by a processor ofthe tuner module to cause the tuner module processor to control:emitting, via the light emitter, the light of a certain frequency in thedirection of the at least one string when the at least one string isvibrating as a result of being manipulated by a user of the stringedmusical instrument and the tuning kit; sensing, via the light processingassembly, the reflected light representing the pitch characteristic;outputting an electronic signal from the light processing assembly, theelectronic signal being representative of the pitch characteristic;receiving, via the first processing circuit, the outputted electronicsignal; processing, via the first processing circuit, the receivedelectronic signal; and transmitting, via the first wirelesscommunication electronics, the processed electronic signal to the secondwireless communication electronics to serve as an input signal for thereceiving display; and a plurality of receiving display instructionsresident on a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium of thereceiving display, wherein the receiving display instructions areexecutable by a processor of the receiving display to cause thereceiving display processor to control receiving, via the secondwireless communication electronics, the transmitted input signal;processing, via the second processing circuit, the received inputsignal; determining, from the processed input signal, a pitch of thepitch characteristic; dynamically calculating a pitch difference betweenthe determined pitch and the at least one pre-programmed pitch; andgenerating a dynamic visualization viewable on the interface, thedynamic visualization representing the dynamically calculated pitchdifference, wherein the user of the stringed musical instrument andtuning kit is able to tune the at least one string to the at-least onepre-programmed pitch based on the dynamic visualization.

A light processing assembly according to any of the above embodimentscan comprise a lens and a sensor, and the lens can be mounted on a topsurface of the sensor. The lens can be a prismatic lens, and the sensorcan be a photodiode configured to detect ultraviolet light.

The receiving display according to the above embodiment(s) can comprisean unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle can be a drone.

These are merely some of the innumerable aspects of the presentinvention and should not be deemed an all-inclusive listing of theinnumerable aspects associated with the present invention. These andother aspects will become apparent to those skilled in the art in lightof the following disclosure and accompanying drawings. The descriptionand specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes ofillustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the presentdisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthe specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosureand together with the description, serve to explain the principles ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 1A illustrates a cross section view of one embodiment of a tuningapparatus of the present application, showing how light is reflected offthe strings of the instrument and sensed.

FIG. 1B illustrates a cross section view of the tuning apparatusaccording to FIG. 1A, showing how a vibrating string affects thereflected light from the string as it strikes the light sensor.

FIG. 2 illustrates an elevated view of another embodiment of the tuningapparatus, showing how the tuning apparatus is configured to avoidsensing stray reflections.

FIG. 3 illustrates an electronic schematic of the tuning apparatusaccording to FIG. 2 , showing how the signals from the sensors areconditioned, fed to the microcontroller and how data is then transmittedwirelessly to a remote receiver.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart showing how square input waves from azero-crossing detector of the tuning apparatus according to FIG. 2 aremeasured using program interrupts to determine a string's period.

FIG. 5 illustrates a representation of one embodiment of graphics of agraphical display configuration for the tuning apparatus according tothe present application, showing individual graphs that display howout-of-tune a string is.

FIG. 6A illustrates one embodiment for the overall graphical display forthe tuning apparatus of the present application, indicating arelationship between the graphics with respect to the physicalconfiguration of the musical instrument tuning pegs on each side of thehead of the musical instrument.

FIG. 6B illustrates another embodiment for the overall graphical displayfor the tuning apparatus of the present application, indicating arelationship between the graphics with respect to the physicalconfiguration of the musical instrument tuning pegs on one side of thehead of the musical instrument.

FIG. 7 illustrates a musical instrument including the tuning apparatusaccording to FIG. 2 wirelessly transmitting tuning data to a remotedevice, which displays tuning information via an application of theremote device.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart showing communication andinteroperability between the tuning apparatus of the musical instrumentand the application of the remote device.

FIG. 9 illustrates a series of graph representations that are possiblefor each tuning graph on receiver/display units, illustrating alateral-widening scheme.

FIG. 10A illustrates another embodiment for the overall graphicaldisplay for the tuning apparatus of the present application, indicatinga relationship between the graphics with respect to the physicalconfiguration of the musical instrument tuning pegs on each side of thehead of the musical instrument.

FIG. 10B illustrates another embodiment for the overall graphicaldisplay for the tuning apparatus of the present application, indicatinga relationship between the graphics with respect to the physicalconfiguration of the musical instrument tuning pegs on one side of thehead of the musical instrument.

FIG. 11 illustrates how light rays passing from a transparent solid toair are reflected when the angle of incidence exceeds the criticalangle.

FIG. 12 illustrates how the reflected light from an object string abovea sensor is focused onto the sensor by a prismatic lens, while lightreflected from an adjacent string is refracted and reflected away fromthe sensor.

FIG. 13 illustrates a partial cross section showing the positioning ofthe temple transceiver/display unit and reflector on a pair ofeyeglasses and how the display image is reflected and directed into thehuman eye, focusing it onto the retina.

FIG. 14 illustrates a cross section showing the construction of thetemple display unit and how it attaches to the temple piece of a pair ofeyeglasses.

FIG. 15 illustrates a musician's view of how the arm-mounted displayunit would look while tuning the guitar and how it attaches magneticallyto the arm band.

FIG. 16 shows a real-world embodiment of a graphical display for thetuning apparatus of the present application.

Reference characters in the written specification indicate correspondingitems shown throughout the drawing figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1A, an embodiment of a tuning apparatus of the presentapplication is shown, including a light emitter (e.g., an ultraviolet(UV) light emitting diode (LED)) 1 that emits light 2 that shines uponan instrument's string 3. A light sensor (e.g., a UV light sensor) 4 isalso present. Some of the UV light 2 reflects away from the surface ofthe string 3 and back toward the light sensor 4 along path 5. Theinstrument comprises a body 9. The LED 1 and the UV light sensor 4 aresoldered to a printed circuit board (PCB) 10, which is enclosed by ahousing 11, which is (e.g., permanently) affixed to the body 9 of thestringed musical instrument (e.g., guitar). The housing 11 may also bereferred to as a case or a casing. The tuning apparatus may be referredto as a tuner/tuning module and/or a tuner/tuning device, and maycomprise part of an overall tuner/tuning kit intended to be used withthe stringed musical instrument.

Referring now to FIG. 1B, when the string 3 is set into motion, itvibrates (e.g., oscillates) in relation to the LED 1 and the UV lightsensor 4 moving to the extent of its oscillating motion or vibration 8.The LED 1 and UV light sensor 4 do not vibrate and remain stationary,being affixed to the PCB 10, housing 11 and instrument body 9. Theoscillating motion (e.g., oscillating motion 8) causes the direction ofthe beam of reflected UV light 5 to deflect, causing a variation in theUV light intensity sensed by the UV light sensor 4, which causes acorresponding variation in the output voltage of the UV light sensor 4.

FIG. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the tuning apparatus of thepresent application in which an LED and a light sensor are paired andlocated under each instrument string. Like reference numbers to thosediscussed above in FIGS. 1A and 1B are used in FIG. 2 . As shown in FIG.2 , the LED 1 and light sensor 4 pair are located under each instrumentstring 3, one pair for each string. These LED 1 and light sensors 4 aresoldered to a PCB 10 which is contained within an (e.g., oblong) housing11. The housing 11 is shaped so that each LED/light sensor pair islocated in a slot 44 that runs parallel with its associated string 3.This slot 44 is made deep enough that the light sensor 4 can only sensereflections of UV light from its corresponding string 3 above and isblocked from stray reflections from adjacent strings 45. The housing 11includes a cavity 46. On the underside of the PCB 10 is soldered amicrocontroller chip 24 and a wireless transmitter chip 27. Thismicrocontroller 24 performs a variety of tasks, including but notlimited to controlling the light output of the light emitters 1 andprocessing the data that results from the light sensed by the lightsensors 4. Also, in the cavity 46 inside the housing 11 and beneath thePCB 10 is a (e.g., rechargeable) battery 47. This battery is charged viaan input (e.g., power) jack/port 48 for the attachment of an externalpower adapter or USB cord (not shown).

FIG. 3 shows a circuit schematic of the tuning apparatus shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3 , the UV light sensor 4 receives reflected UV light(originally provided by LED 1) from the vibrating string 3 and convertsit to a periodic waveform 13. This waveform mimics the vibration 8 ofthe string 3 and has a frequency equal to the frequency or musical pitchof the vibrating string 3. This waveform is typically too small inmagnitude (e.g., amplitude) to be useful, and as such is amplified by anelectronic amplifier 14 (such as an operational amplifier), producingwave 15, which has a much larger amplitude than periodic waveform 13,yet possesses the same frequency and/or pitch of the smaller periodicwaveform 13. This larger wave 15 is then passed on to a circuit elementsuch as a comparator, for example in the form of an electroniczero-crossing detector (ZCD) 16. The ZCD 16 detects where thealternating voltage of wave 15 crosses through zero and switches anoutput 17 of the ZCD 16 to a logic “high” 19 for a low-to-hightransition, or a logic “low” 20 for a high-to-low transition, resultingin a square wave output 18 having a frequency equal to the string'spitch. This square wave output 18 is passed on from the output 17 of theZCD 16 to an input 23 of a microcontroller chip 24. This same sensingand signal processing is performed by similar separate, independentcircuits 25 for each string in the stringed instrument, with eachcircuit connected to separate and distinct inputs (e.g., input lines) 26of the microcontroller chip 24. The microcontroller 24 then determinesthe frequency of each of the (e.g., six) square wave outputs 18 inputtedfor each string and transmits these numerical values to a wirelesstransmitter/transceiver chip 27. The wireless transmitter/transceiverchip 27 then arranges these values into a (e.g., serial) electroniccommunication protocol and transmits them as (e.g., modulatedelectromagnetic) radio frequency (RF) waves 32 radiated via a firstantenna 28. Alternatively, the wireless transmitter/transceiver chip 27could be integral to the microcontroller chip 24. The modulated RF wave32 is then received by a second antenna 29 of a radio receiver 30 of aremote wireless device 35 where it is demodulated to extract the numericdata, which is then sent to a processor (e.g., CPU) 31 of the remotewireless device 35. The processor 31 then compares the frequency valuesto their correct, in-tune values that have been previously stored in amemory 33 of the tuning apparatus and calculates the error for eachinstrument string. This error is used to determine how far each stringis out-of-tune and is shown in a graphical manner on a display 34 of theremote wireless device 35. The remote wireless device 35 may be asmartphone, smartwatch, smart glasses, computer, self-tuning system, ora dedicated wearable receiver-display unit.

For example, in the case of smart glasses, the smart glasses may receivewireless data and display tuning information to the musician visually inthe form of images that appear before the musician's eyes via the lensof the glasses (e.g., when wearing the glasses). The remote wirelessdevice may be referred to as a receiving/wireless/remote display and/ora wireless/remote receiver and/or wireless receiver device and/orwearable transceiver/device, and may comprise another part of theoverall tuner/tuning kit as described above, and is intended to be usedin conjunction with the tuner/tuning module/device (e.g., thetuner/tuning module/device and the remote wireless device (akareceiving/wireless/remote display and/or a wireless/remote receiver))are used together such that the vibrating string(s) informationcollected from the tuner/tuning module/device can be used by the remotewireless device (aka receiving/wireless/remote display and/or awireless/remote receiver) to assist a user in tuning the instrument).

Referring to FIG. 4 , a flowchart for the steps (e.g., software/program)for performing the above-noted techniques is shown. A main program 51 ofthe microcontroller 24 operates in a continuous loop 52 waiting forinterrupts to happen. Input square waves 50 (e.g., such as square wavesoutput 18 in FIG. 3 ) from the sensors 4 to the microcontroller are setup in the software as an external interrupt that triggers the program toexecute an interrupt service routine (ISR) 53 any time an input wave 50is rising (e.g., has a low-to-high transition). Each of the inputsensors 4 is connected to its own dedicated input line 26 and has itsown dedicated ISR routine in the program so that each string 3 can beevaluated independently. Within this ISR a dedicated timer in themicrocontroller 24 is read at step 54 and its value (e.g., “T”) isstored at step 55 in the memory 33 of the microcontroller 24. Then thetimer value is reset at step 56 to zero (although the timer continues torun, timing again from zero, and does not stop) and program execution isreturned at step 57 to the main program loop 51. This subroutine 53 isexecuted by the microcontroller 24 extremely quickly (e.g., within afraction of a microsecond) and does not affect the accuracy of the timemeasurement T. In this way, every vibration of the string 3 triggers aninterrupt at every rising edge and the time that is stored at step 55 inmemory is always equal to the period of the string vibration T, or thetime of one complete cycle of vibration. The frequency of a wave issimply the reciprocal of this period according to the formula f=1/T,where f is the wave frequency in hertz and T is the period in seconds.With this simple formula the frequency can easily be calculated fromthis period T. It is these values T that are transmitted, one for eachstring in the instrument, via radio waves 32 to the wireless device 35for evaluation.

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of how a graphic portion of the display34 of the wireless receiver device 35 may be configured with respect toportraying tuning of a single string 3. The error from the instrumentstring has been translated into a segmented graph 40, wherein a stringwith a frequency that is too high (e.g., sharp) is shown proportionatelyon the upper half 41 of the graph. The greater the degree of sharpness,the more of segments 43 are illuminated, from the bottom up, and thehigher the graph reads. Conversely, if a string's frequency is too low(e.g., flat), the lower half 42 of the graph 40 extends downwardproportionately in the same fashion. If the string is already in tune(neither sharp nor flat, see “0” point in FIG. 5 ) the graph wouldindicate so by not illuminating any segments 43 and/or changing thecolor, shape, intensity and/or representation of the graph to contrast,for example, with other graphs that still need to be tuned (e.g., in amulti-string embodiment, discussed below). Thus, the graph 40dynamically represents the tuning position (e.g., sharp, flat, in-tune)of the string. Of course, visualizations other than the graph shown inFIG. 5 can be used, so long as the visualization conveys the necessarytuning position information to the user. For example, an alternativevisualization is described below with respect to FIGS. 9, 10A and 10B.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate examples of how the graphical configurationshown on the display 34 of the wireless device 35 may be configured whenall of the string errors of the instrument are shown together.Individual graphs 40 (as depicted alone in FIG. 5 , for example), onefor each string, are arranged on the display in a manner thatcorresponds to how the corresponding tuning pegs on the head of theinstrument appear to the musician. FIG. 6A shows one embodiment of agraphical arrangement on the display 34 for a six-string guitar that hasthree tuning pegs on one side of the (e.g., head) of the instrument andthree tuning pegs on an opposite side. FIG. 6B shows another embodimentof a graphical arrangement on the display 34 for a different six-stringguitar that has all six tuning pegs on one side of the (e.g., head) ofthe instrument. In addition to the plurality of graphs 40, a depiction(e.g., stylized silhouette) 49 of the current type of instrument head isshown for reference. The individual graphs are located about thesilhouette in the same locations that the tuning pegs of the instrumentare configured around the instrument's head, to aid the musician inquickly determining which tuning peg(s) to turn and in which directionto bring each string into tune.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of how a musical instrument including thetuning device of the present application would operate in conjunctionwith the remote device of the present application. A musical instrument70 (e.g., a guitar) is outfitted with a tuning device 71, where tuningdevice 71 can be the embodiment of the device shown in FIG. 2 . As auser tunes the instrument (e.g., as a user plucks and/or strums stringsof a guitar), frequency information of each vibrating string isgenerated, received, and processed by the tuning device 71, in themanner described above. The tuning device 71 then wirelessly transmits,via transmission 32, the tuning data that was processed from thestrumming of the strings, in the manner described above. The remotedevice 35 receives the wireless transmission 32, and a correspondingapplication 72 of the remote device 35 displays a dynamic graphicalarrangement (such as the graphical arrangement of FIG. 6A) of the tuninginformation on the display 34 of the remote device 35. The remote device35 may be the musician's smartphone, tablet, or other like device, suchas a (e.g., dedicated) wireless remote display unit. For example, in thecase of a smartphone, the smartphone may include sufficientinterconnectivity (e.g., wireless communication) hardware (e.g., Wi-Fi,Bluetooth and/or other wireless protocol chips, formed as (or inassociation and/or communication with) radio receiver (e.g., 30) asdescribed above, including any necessary and/or corresponding antennas)capable of receiving data transmissions from the tuning device in themanner shown in FIG. 3 . The CPU of the smartphone can manage thereceived data and execute the application according to the receiveddata. The application on the smartphone may be configured to parse thereceived information from the tuning device in order to achieve displayof the illustrative graphical arrangements shown in FIGS. 5, 6A and 6B.In the case of wireless transmission of tuning data to a smart devicewith a large, full-color screen and/or high-resolution display, thesoftware can perform a myriad of tasks, such as exotic tunings andtemperaments, saved tunings, captured tunings and complex, animated,multi-page/screen presentation of the information, not possible withextant (e.g., small screen and/or low resolution) devices that comprisemonochromic, segmented or dot-matrix displays.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of how the techniques shown in FIG. 7 areachieved. Tuning information received by the tuning apparatus (e.g., 71)of the musical instrument (e.g., 70) is (wirelessly) transmitted to theremote device (e.g., 35) so that the tuning information can be displayedvia the application (e.g., 72) of the remote device. In the remotedevice, a software routine 73 runs, in which at step 74, wireless datafrom tuning device 71 (see FIG. 7 ) is transmitted as indicated by arrow80, received by the antenna(s) of the remote device, and stored in thememory of the remote device. After receipt and storage of this wirelessdata, the pitch errors of the strings are calculated at step 75. Asshown at step 78, the calculations at step 75 rely on stored correctpitch data to be input as indicated by arrow 79 into the routine fordetermination of the pitch errors in the manner described above withrespect to the comparisons performed by processor 31. The calculation ofthe pitch errors is output so that the errors can be turned into avisualization (e.g., graphical arrangement) to be used by the user(e.g., musician) for tuning of the musical instrument. Step 76 shows,for example, that the pitch errors can be visualized as bar graphs thatare generated for display, via the application, on the screen of theremote device (e.g., the bars being configured to showsharp/in-tune/flat for each string, as described above and as shown inFIGS. 6A and 6B). While bar graphs are one preferable embodiment of avisualization used to convey the pitch errors to a user to assist intuning, the visualization of such pitch errors is not limited to bargraphs. Other visualization formats (e.g., dots, lines, (musical)symbols, and the like) are within the scope of the graphicalarrangement/representation disclosed herein, so long as such othervisualization formats suitably convey tuning information to the user forallowing the user to tune the instrument based on what the visualizationis showing. Another such visualization format is represented in FIGS. 9,10A and 10B, described below. Step 77 represents a return loop,illustrating how the remote device is able to continuously (e.g.,dynamically) display up-to-date tuning information as the user tunes theinstrument (e.g., strums strings of a guitar). For example, eachsuccessive strum of strings of the instrument is received, processed,and transmitted by the tuning apparatus of the instrument, so as to bereceived, processed and displayed via the remote device for enablingdynamic (e.g., live/instantaneous) tuning of all of the strings of theinstrument.

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of how a graphic portion of thedisplay 34 of the wireless receiver device 35 may be configured withrespect to portraying tuning of a single string (e.g., 3 as shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B), similar to the graph(s) 40 as shown in FIGS. 5, 6A and6B. An array of display pixels 150 is shown, with pixels that have beenlit depicted as darkened boxes 125 and pixels that have not been litdepicted as open boxes 126. In this embodiment, a perfectly in-tunestring would produce a graph 127 with a single horizontal line at thecenter. This line may or may not be a different color than the rest ofthe graph, depending on the color capabilities of the display. As astring becomes higher in pitch, the display would first show a verticalline as shown in graph 128 centered from left to right and above thehorizontal line. As the pitch of the instrument string becomes higherand higher, the vertical line widens symmetrically, pixel width-by-pixelwidth, as represented by the vertical line in graph 129, eventuallybecoming wider as shown by the vertical line in graph 130, and thenultimately filling up the entirety of the top half of the graph as shownby the vertical line in graph 131 (wherein the vertical line in graph131 represents a completely solid upper graph where each pixel is lit,as shown by all of the boxes in graph 131 being darkened boxes 125). Theupper graph is, for example, comprised of all of the boxes located abovethe horizontal line as shown in graph 127. The visualization of stringswith a pitch lower than the in-tune pitch would start with a verticalline 132 below the horizontal line (where vertical line 132 is similarto the vertical line in graph 128 but on the opposite side of thehorizontal line). Vertical line 132 becomes wider as the string becomeslower and lower in pitch in the same manner as described above withrespect to the widening of the vertical line of the upper graph. Stringswith a pitch so high that it is out of range of the graph arerepresented, for example, by a solid upper graph as in graph 131 thatcan flash and/or change to a contrasting color or othervisualization/configuration to indicate the pitch being out of range.Strings with a pitch so low that is out of range of the lower graph arerepresented by a solid, flashing and/or contrasting lower graph (wherethe lower graph comprises the boxes below the horizontal line as shownin graph 127). Strings that are not sensed by the photosensor(s) 4 wouldbe indicated by an entirely blank graph, without even a horizontal bar(e.g., an entirely blank graph is one like the graph 127 but with all ofthe boxes of the graph being open boxes 126). This graphicalconfiguration could also be rotated ninety degrees so that the in-tunelines are vertical and the bars extend to the right and left to indicatesharp or flat and expand and contract vertically to indicate the degreeof error. Of course, visualizations other than the graph shown in FIG. 9can be used, so long as the visualization conveys the necessary tuningposition information to the user. The hardware (e.g., controller) andsoftware of the remote receiving device are configured to control thedisplay of information of the display screen of the remote device,including generation of the visualizations such as by techniquesdescribed above in connection with step 76 as shown in FIG. 8 .

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate examples of how the graphical configurationshown on the display 34 of the wireless device 35 (e.g., see FIG. 7 )may be configured when all of the string errors of the instrument areshown together, similar to FIGS. 6A and 6B, but utilizing thevisualization styling and techniques of FIG. 9 . Individual graphs 150(similar to graphs 40 as depicted in FIGS. 5, 6A, and 6B), one for eachstring, are arranged on the display in a manner that corresponds to howthe corresponding tuning pegs on the head of the instrument appear tothe musician. FIG. 10A shows one embodiment of a graphical arrangementon the display 34 for a six-string guitar that has three tuning pegs onone side of the (e.g., head) of the instrument and three tuning pegs onan opposite side. FIG. 10B shows another embodiment of a graphicalarrangement on the display 34 for a different six-string guitar that hasall six tuning pegs on one side of the (e.g., head) of the instrument.In addition to the plurality of graphs 150, the current type ofinstrument head is shown for reference by depictions 49, similar to thatshown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. This depiction 49 may be a stylized silhouettethat represents the head of the instrument or may be a digitalphotograph of the actual instrument head that can be captured with theuser's smartphone camera or other digital camera and custom-insertedinto the display image as a bitmap, jpeg, or the like, via thesmartphone application program. The individual graphs are located aboutthe head depiction in the same locations that the tuning pegs of theinstrument are configured around the instrument's head, to aid themusician in quickly determining which tuning peg(s) to turn and in whichdirection, to bring each string into tune. For example, with respect toFIG. 8 , step 76 can instead generate the graph style of FIGS. 9, 10Aand 10B instead of the bar graph styling as shown in FIGS. 5, 6A, 6B and7 .

FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate an alternative embodiment from that shown inFIG. 2 , and includes using a lens (e.g., prismatic lens) in conjunctionwith the photosensor (e.g., 4) for the detection of light signals (e.g.,the embodiment of FIGS. 11 and 12 adds the usage of a lens for eachsensor 4 of embodiment of FIG. 2 ). FIG. 11 shows how light rays such asthat depicted by the arrow 80 a traveling inside a transparent material81 are refracted as they pass from an interior point 83 and meet theinterface 82 between the solid material 81 and the air 141. Thetransparent material 81 represents a material that is used as theprismatic lens. As discussed above, prismatic lenses are made from asolid, transparent material such as acrylic or polycarbonate plastic,glass, epoxy, or any other optically clear material and shaped in theform of an isosceles triangle, symmetric about the plane passing throughthe centerline of the object string and the center of the sensor. Theselenses serve to (i) converge reflected light from the object stringdirectly overhead by refracting the light inward, intensifying the lightcontacting the photosensor and increasing its effect (which allows thestring to be detected from farther away and with smaller vibrations sothat the signal can be accurately measured over a longer decay period),and (ii) reject light reflected from adjacent strings that wouldinterfere with the signal from the object string. Light reflecting fromadjacent strings enters the prismatic lens from a more oblique anglethan light reflected from the object string directly above.Consequently, though the light is refracted downward toward the sensoras it enters the prism, when it passes on to the bottom inner surface ofthe prism, nearest the sensor, and attempts to exit, the light isreflected back into the prism and does not pass through to the sensor.This is due to the fact that the light strikes the inner surface of thelens at an angle greater than the so-called critical angle of therefractive material. The angle of refraction ϕ_(a) of a transparentsolid is related to the angle of incidence ϕ₀ by the formula:

sin φ₀=n_(a) sin φ_(a)

where n_(a) is the index of refraction, which is an intrinsic propertyfor a given

${\sin\varphi_{c}} = \frac{1}{n_{a}}$

material. For most common types of glass and transparent plastics thisindex is in the range of 1.5-1.6. As the angle of incidence increases,the angle of refraction eventually becomes so great that it reaches 90°and light is reflected back into the refractive material and no lightpasses through. So the sine of the angle of refraction becomes sin90°=1. The angle of incidence is then known as the critical angle ϕ_(c)determined by the formula

-   Any light striking the solid-to-air interface of the prismatic lens    (e.g., formed as a prism) with a greater angle than the critical    angle will be reflected back into the prism and not pass downwardly    into the air at that interface. For materials with refractive    indexes in the range 1.5-1.6 this angle would be in the range    38.7°-41.8°. The light reflected from the adjacent strings of a    standard guitar strike an angle greater than this limit and thus are    reflected and eliminated from the light contacting the photosensor.    The light from the object string above, however, would be well    within the critical angle limit and all of its reflected light would    pass through the lens and on to the photosensor.

Applying this to the embodiment in FIG. 11 , the light ray 80 a frompoint 83 strikes an angle ϕ₀ following a line 85 that is perpendicularto the interface 82 and passes through the point of contact 86 of thelight ray 80 a. Due to refraction, the light beam 80 a changes direction88 at the interface 82 striking a different angle ϕ₁ with the verticalline 85 according to the formula presented in the summary of theinvention. As the angle ϕ increases, as in the case of light ray 89, therefracted angle also increases until, when it reaches the critical angleϕ_(c) from the vertical line 85 at which point the refracted angle ϕ₂reaches 90° and the light ray 87 refracts parallel to the interface 82and does not pass through to the air 141. It can be seen that forincreasing angles ϕ beyond this, such as ray 86, a light ray 90 will bereflected back into the material so that any angle of incidence greaterthan ϕ_(c) will not make it through the interface 82 and will bereflected away and back into a prism formed of such material 81.

FIG. 12 , with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2 , shows how theprinciple described above in connection with FIG. 11 is applied to theultraviolet light (e.g., 2, 5) from the light source (e.g., 1) when itis reflected from a string 95 (aka string 3 in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2 ) andreaches a prismatic lens 91, where prismatic lens 91 comprises amaterial such as transparent material 81. While a prismatic lens is onepreferred embodiment of the lens, this type of lens is not limiting andother lens types may be used so long as they accomplish the necessaryfocusing of light for the photosensor. When light rays 92 contact theprismatic lens 91 they are refracted inward toward a photosensingportion 94 of overall photosensor 4 (see also FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2 ) inthe direction of arrows 93 as they pass from the air 96 into a materialof higher index of refraction. These rays 93 are further reflectedinward as they pass from the prismatic lens 91 back into the air 96.This focuses the ultraviolet light contacting the photosensing portion94, increasing its intensity and the resulting electronic signal.Conversely, ultraviolet light rays 97 reflecting off an adjacent string98 enter the prismatic lens 91 at a much greater angle from thevertical, which is greater than the critical angle ϕ_(c) and are thusreflected away as shown by arrow 140 at an interface 99 and do notpenetrate or shine onto the photosensing portion 94. In this way,interference from light reflected from the adjacent string(s) 98 iseliminated by the prism, while enhancing light from the object string.

FIG. 13 shows an alternative embodiment of display 34 and receiverdevice 35, where FIG. 13 illustrates a temple-type display unit 100mounted to a pair of eyeglasses 101 on a right temple portion 112 of theeyeglasses. The embodiment in FIG. 13 is configured tocommunicate/operate with the tuner (e.g., 71, see FIG. 7 ) installed onthe instrument. On the left side display face 102 of the display unit100 is a lighted display (described below) that displays toward theleft. Light rays 103 from a display of the display face 102 shine towarda transparent reflector (e.g., lens) 104 from an arbitrary point 109from the display face 102 and are partially reflected by the shinysurface toward the (human) eyeball 110 of the wearer. The concavespherical surface of the transparent reflector 104 at radius R convergesthe light rays 105 as they approach the lens 106 of the human eyeball110, which further converge the light rays 108 which then focus to apoint 111 on the retina 107 of the eyeball 110. This reflection of lightfrom the display unit 100 causes image 113 to appear in space before thewearer as if the light rays 114 emanated from an actual object. Thespace represents a viewing plane that extends beyond a frame of theeyeglasses 101. Since the reflector 104 is transparent, image 113 isonly a partial reflection and real objects beyond the image can be seenclearly through the eyeglass lens 115 and the transparent reflector 104as normal. The instrument head/graph displays shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, 10Aand 10B are examples of the images shown the display face 102 of displayunit 100 that can be seen as image 113, for example.

FIG. 14 shows a cross section view of the temple display unit 100 in itspreferred embodiment, mounted to the temple portion 112 with a springclip 116 that holds the display unit securely in place with a clampingforce. The clip 116 can easily be installed onto the eyeglass templeportion 112 by clipping it on downwardly from above. On the inwardsurface of the clip 116 is mounted an (e.g., OLED) display screen 117.Electronic signals are sent to a display screen 117 via a ribbon, a FlatFlex cable, or individual wires or the like 119, coming from a maincontrol board 118. The display screen 117 is of display face 102. Themain control board 118 comprises a microcontroller/wireless radioreceiver 121 that receives the tuning signal. While FIG. 14 showsribbon/cable/wire are being exposed, it may be covered by a housing,such as an extension of housing 124. The display unit 100 andmicrocontroller/wireless radio receiver 121 thereof can be configured ina manner so as to enable communications and processes as shown in FIGS.3, 4, 7 and 8 and as described above. For example, with respect to FIG.3 , the microcontroller/wireless radio receiver 121 of FIG. 14 may be anembodiment of the radio receiver 30, CPU 31, and memory 33 (e.g., formedas an integral processing unit or formed separately). The circuit ispowered by a primary or secondary (e.g., rechargeable) battery 120. Agesture sensor 122 is also mounted to the circuit board 118 and senseshand gestures through aperture 123. The control board 118 is encased ina protective housing 124.

As described above, in this eyeglasses embodiment, the wearabletransceiver/display device entails attaching the transceiver/displaydevice to a pair of glasses (e.g., eyeglasses or sunglasses) worn by themusician. This serves as a low-cost and convenient alternative to usinggeneral-purpose smart glasses on the market, which are currently veryexpensive and have low adoption, thereby representing an improvementover conventional techniques. The visual tuning information required totune the instrument includes graphs and/or letter names of the notesbeing tuned. The display 117 can be an OLED, TFT, or any other displaytype or method that offers a relatively bright, high-contrast image. Theface of this display is mounted to the inner side of an eyeglass temple,directed inward toward the musician's head and its image is reflectednear the inner side of the spectacle lens and toward the wearer's eye.If the reflector were flat and at a right angle to the surface of thedisplay, it would appear before the wearer and to the side, but would betoo close to the eye for most people to focus clearly. To compensate forthis, the present invention uses a thin, transparent,spherically-concave reflector (e.g., 104). The concave shape convergesthe reflected light from the display, similar to the refractive effectof a convex lens and compensates for the close proximity, much likereading glasses. This reflector can be constructed from inexpensiveclear plastic film, vacuum-formed, blow-molded, or injection molded tothe proper radius of curvature. The reflector can be attached as anintegral extension of the temple transceiver/display unit or can be aseparate piece, attached to the inner surface of the eyeglasses via anadhesive backing. The display image, having a relatively high brightnessand contrast, partially reflects from the shiny plastic surface of thereflector and can be seen in the wearer's field of vision, yet thetransparent reflector also allows light from in front of the wearer topass through normally. Since the reflector material is of a uniformthickness, there is no distortion of objects beyond it due to refractionand because it is very thin there is negligible double-imaging, due toreflection from outer and inner surfaces of the reflector material. Inthis way, the concave shape of the reflector allows it to focus thepartially-reflected image of the display, but still allows light to passthrough from beyond the reflector without hindering the wearer'sperception of his surroundings. Of course, the image is only visiblewhen the display is switched on, during the tuning procedure, and is notpresent at other times, being switched back off manually orautomatically when tuning is complete. The reflector can be constructedfrom any clear, rigid material, but preferably from an inexpensivematerial such as polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) plastic, like thatused in clear disposable plastic cups, so that it can be easily andeconomically replaced when it becomes lost, scratched, worn or damaged,and can also be offered in different prescription strengths, much likereading glasses, by offering an assortment of different radii ofcurvature of the concave shape, altering its focal length. Since thereflected image of the display appears at an oblique angle to theviewer, rather than directly before the viewer, the image appearscompressed left-to-right. To compensate for this, the graphs of thedisplay image are represented in an elongated fashion, left to right, sothat they appear wide and squat when viewed head-on, but appear to be ofnormal proportion when viewed at an oblique angle, similar to paintedroadway messages to be viewed from within a vehicle. The temple of apair of eyeglasses is particularly well-suited for this applicationsince it allows a long, narrow area to be displayed. The templetransceiver/display unit includes an integral microcontroller and awireless transceiver circuit (e.g., 121) that receives pitch data fromthe ultraviolet sensor unit on the guitar and can send commands,communicating via radio waves. Since it would be awkward to use buttonsor a touchscreen on such a tiny unit, the circuit includes a gesturesensor (e.g., 122) on the outer-facing side of the circuit board(directed to the side, away from the user's head), such as, but notlimited to, an Avago APDS-9960, which uses four infrared photodiodes todetect gestures and motions in various directions and configurations.With the proper software libraries provided by the manufacturer, it iseasy for the microcontroller to distinguish between up, down, right andleft gestures near the sensor as well as more complex motions. There aremyriad ways that this can be used as an input to the templetransceiver/display unit to generate and manipulate screens andfunctions. For example, a forward wave of the musician's hand near hisear could signal the unit to turn on and send a wireless signal to theultraviolet string sensor unit to start measuring and sending data. Abackward wave could trigger the display to show a menu of various tuningschemes. These tuning schemes could be perused by an upward or downwardmotion of the hand/fingers to scroll up and down through the list ofstored tuning schemes. These gestures are mere examples of how gesturecontrol could be implemented and do not limit and/or preclude othergestures from being used. Another possible method of sending controlsignals to the display/transceiver unit includes playing specific noteson the guitar while in tuning or selection mode. Since the ultravioletunit sends frequency information to the display/transceiver unitwirelessly for each string, a specific string/frequency combinationcould be designated so as to be interpreted as a specific command, suchas scrolling up or down through different tuning schemes. For example,playing a note “A” (fifth fret) on the “E” string would send a frequencyof 440 Hz to the display/transceiver. When the display/transceiver unitreceives a frequency of 440 Hz it can interpret this as a command andexecute processing according to the command accordingly. Since theultraviolet lights and sensors are disabled while playing (describedbelow), there is no danger of accidentally triggering commands while themusician is playing music.

FIG. 15 depicts another embodiment of a wearable receiver/display unit135 (e.g., see also 35 in FIGS. 3 and 7 ). In this configuration, themusician wears an arm band 133 on their arm 138 onto/into which has beenattached or sewn a piece of ferromagnetic material 134 like a steelwasher. To the back side of the display unit 135 is affixed a permanentmagnet 136. During play, the unit 135 is attached to the arm band 133with the magnet which holds it in the desired viewing position so that atouchscreen display 137 is easily readable while tuning a guitar 139.The orientation of the receiver/display unit 135 can be adjusted asdesired by turning it about. Because of the friction caused by themagnetic attraction of the magnet 136, the position of the display withrespect to the viewer will remain unchanged during play and will beready for the next tuning. This embodiment offers all the same features(tuning scheme selection, etc.) as the temple receiver/display unit 100,though selections can be made using an ordinary touch-type screen 137,rather than gesture control. While unit 135 is intended to be used withan arm band, the unit 135 may simply be placed on a remote surface(e.g., not on a body part of the user), so long as the user is able tosee the display and use the unit for tuning. For example, the wirelessdevice may simply be placed on the floor or on a cabinet, etc. The unit135 must be within the required physical range of any wirelesscommunication protocols used, although the option of remote tuning(e.g., via the cloud) is envisioned. For example, if Bluetooth is used,the remote unit (e.g., 135) cannot be at a distance from the tunermodule (e.g., 71, mounted on the body of the instrument) that is greaterthan the maximum distance at which Bluetooth is able to communicate(e.g., 30 feet).

In this arm band embodiment shown in FIG. 15 , the screen 137 may be anLCD, LED, OLED, TFT or similar type of display and attaches to themusician in a location (e.g., forearm) where the musician can easily seethe tuning information yet leave their hands free to tune theinstrument, which generally requires the use of both hands (one to turnthe tuning pegs and the other to strum the strings). A securing band(e.g., 133) is attached around the musician's forearm (or upper arm,knee, hand or other location of convenient visibility to the musician).The band can be an elastic material, such as a sweat band, or can befastened with hook-and-loop fastener (such as Velcro), a buckle, tied ina knot/bow or any other common method for securing a band. To this bandis permanently attached a small piece of ferromagnetic metal (e.g.,134), such as a steel washer. To the receiver/display unit ispermanently attached a small, powerful permanent magnet (e.g., 136).When the band is worn on the body, the transceiver/display unit may thenbe attached magnetically in any convenient orientation that is mosteasily read by the musician. The magnet then firmly holds thetransceiver/display in its optimal position while the musician playsmusic and is immediately available for use in tuning the instrument atany time. An added benefit of the permanent magnet is that the musiciancan also wear the arm band under a long-sleeved shirt and the magneticattraction will still affix the transceiver/display through the sleevefabric. Alternately, if a band is undesirable, the transceiver/displayunit can be attached directly to the musician's skin via spirit gum ordouble-adhesive tape such as the type used to attach a toupee or wig.The transceiver/display unit may also be attached to any otherconvenient surface, such as the musician's amplifier, a microphonestand, on a small easel or tripod, under the bill of a hat, mounted toan unmanned aerial vehicle (aka UAV, such as a drone in the form of anano-drone) suspended before the musician, etc. The transceiver/displaycan be activated by touching the screen, in the case of where theembodiment uses a touchscreen (or pressing a switch/button, using asmartphone via wireless communication, or using a hand gesture detectedwith an ordinary gesture sensor on the display unit).

FIG. 16 shows a real-world embodiment of a display screen of a tuningapparatus of the present application. As shown, tuning letters 160corresponding to the tuning of the strings, in accordance with thedesignated tuning (e.g., standard), are displayed adjacent to arespective graphical representation 161 of the tuning status of eachstring. For example, in the case of standard tuning, the letters 160comprise E A D G B E from top to bottom, vertically. This graphicalrepresentation 161 reflects, for example, the graph embodiments shown inFIGS. 9 and 10B. For example, with reference to FIG. 9 , as shown inFIG. 16 , the width of the graph for each letter may vary depending onthe tuning status (e.g., high, low, in-tune). Additionally, the color ofthe graphs of the graphical representation 161 can vary based on atuning status of the associated string. In the case of the top-most “E”,the flat line can be colored green, indicative of the string beingperfectly in-tune, similar to graph 127 in FIG. 9 . The remainingstrings B G D A E may be colored yellow indicating that they are notperfectly in tune. The “B” string in FIG. 16 is similar to vertical line132 in FIG. 9 , indicating a low-tuning state. The “G” string in FIG. 16is similar to graph 131 in FIG. 9 , representing a high pitch that isvery close to being out of range. The “D” string in FIG. 16 is similarto graph 130 in FIG. 9 , representing a high pitch, but at a pitch levelless than that of string “G”. The “A” string in FIG. 16 is similar tograph 129 in FIG. 9 , representing a high pitch, but at a pitch levelless than that of string “D”. The bottom-most “E” string in FIG. 16 issimilar to graph 128 in FIG. 9 , representing a high pitch, but at apitch level less than that of string “A” (e.g., the bottom-most “E”string is close to being perfectly in-tune). The colors and shapes ofthe graphs are not limiting and any variety of colors and shapes may beincorporated so long as they clearly communicate tuning information to auser (e.g., colors that don't conflict with color perception of acolor-blind user may be used). Also, similar to depiction 49 in FIGS. 6Band 10B, an image 162 of the head of the instrument is shown, whereinthe layout of the letters 160 corresponds to the tuning pegs/knobs ofthe instrument head to further assist in tuning. There can also bevarious function buttons 164, 165 and 166 allowing a user to makevarious selections. For example, button 164 is a “Tune” button, button165 is a “Play” button, and button 166 is a “Mode” button. Actuation ofthe “Tune” button 164 may initiate a tuning protocol such that detectionof strumming/plucking of the strings is initiated in order to aid intuning of the strings using the techniques described above. Actuation ofthe “Play” button 165 may initiate processing representative of theinstrument being played (e.g., not actively being tuned) to deactivateaspects of the device that are used during active tuning. For example,actuation of the “Play” button 165 may shut down the display screen andthe UV lights and/or sensors. Actuation of the “Mode” button 166 mayinitiate a mode selection process allowing a user to select fromavailable modes of operation (e.g., selection of alternate tunings,etc.). For example, when “Mode” button 166 is actuated to select astandard tuning mode, “Standard” may be displayed at a tuning indicationportion 167 of the graphical user interface (GUI) shown on the display,where tuning indication portion 167 is capable of displaying textindicating the tuning mode that is active or other informative wording.Of course, these button designations merely represent examples of howthese buttons can be configured and are not limiting, as other functionscan be mapped to the buttons. The real-world embodiment shown in FIG. 16may, for example, be most preferably representative of a touch screendisplay (137) according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 15 , but is notlimited to such. For example, FIG. 16 may be representative of thedisplay in the embodiments of FIG. 7 and FIGS. 13-14 . The hardware(e.g., controller) and software of the wearable device are configured tocontrol the display of information of the display screen of the remotedevice, including generation of the visualizations such as by techniquesdescribed above in connection with FIGS. 7 and 8 , for example.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the several advantages ofthe disclosure are achieved and attained. As described above, by usingUV sensors to sense reflected UV light, the present device can be usedin a live performance scenario (e.g., on stage under incandescentlights). In conventional light-detection based tuning devices, ordinaryvisible light is reflected from the strings and used for pitchdetermination. However, fluctuation of ambient incandescent andfluorescent lighting (caused by their alternating current (AC) powersupply (e.g., at 120 Hz)), there are undesired 120 Hz signals, and it isnecessary to pulse the sensor's light source at a high carrierfrequency, in hopes that the resulting reflected signal will appear asan amplitude modulated (AM) signal at the output of the light sensor asthe string vibrates in the light. The modulated signal could then befiltered to isolate it from the 120 Hz interference and demodulated withan envelope detector yielding the signal from the string vibration only.In practice this is extremely difficult if not impossible to achieve,since the vibrating string does not effectively modulate the light fromthe device's source and cannot reliably be filtered and extracted fromthe carrier wave. Also, the ambient light is often very high inintensity, as in the case with stage lighting, and can easily overpowerthe conventional device's light sources and the tiny amount of reflectedlight. The apparatus of the present application avoids these issues andrepresents a substantial improvement over such conventional techniques.The tuner and remote receiver/receiving display may be configured as atuning kit, intended to operate with one another, and sold together oras separates (e.g., the embodiment shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 may be soldseparately but used with the tuner module installed in the body of theinstrument, and the embodiment shown in FIG. 15 may be sold separatelybut used with the tuner module installed in the body of the instrument).In other words, various embodiments of the remote/wearable device mayeach be used with the common tuner device installed in the body of theinstrument. This gives a user flexibility to use a variety ofremote/wearable devices with one common tuner module installed in thebody of the instrument.

Additional advantages include but are not limited to (i) using discreteinputs and evaluating them simultaneously using embedded programinterrupt routines, rather than complex filtering techniques, etc., (ii)displaying tuning information in the form of a representative instrument(e.g., guitar head) showing the actual location of the appropriatetuning pegs, (iii) mounting the present device semi-permanently or morepreferably permanently to the instrument in such a manner that thepresent device is unobtrusive and need not be seen by the musician,thereby obviating the need to attach and detach the present device foreach tuning during a performance, and (iv) cost efficient production, asthe display and the bulk of the programming can be through a commonsmartphone device with a downloadable application.

In the present disclosure, all or part of the units or devices of anysystem and/or apparatus, and/or all or part of functional blocks in anyblock diagrams and flow charts may be executed by one or more electroniccircuitries including a semiconductor device, a semiconductor integratedcircuit (IC) (e.g., such as a processor, CPU, etc.), or a large-scaleintegration (LSI). The LSI or IC may be integrated into one chip and maybe constituted through combination of two or more chips. For example,the functional blocks other than a storage element may be integratedinto one chip. The integrated circuitry that is called LSI or IC in thepresent disclosure is also called differently depending on the degree ofintegrations, and may be called a system LSI, VLSI (very large-scaleintegration), or ULSI (ultra large-scale integration). For an identicalpurpose, it is possible to use an FPGA (field programmable gate array)that is programmed after manufacture of the LSI, or a reconfigurablelogic device that allows for reconfiguration of connections inside theLSI or setup of circuitry blocks inside the LSI. Furthermore, part orall of the functions or operations of units, devices or parts or all ofdevices can be executed by software processing (e.g., coding,algorithms, etc.). In this case, the software is recorded in anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium, such as one or moreROMs, RAMs, optical disks, hard disk drives, solid-state memory,servers, cloud storage, and so on and so forth, having stored thereonexecutable instructions which can be executed to carry out the desiredprocessing functions and/or circuit operations. For example, when thesoftware is executed by a processor, the software causes the processorand/or a peripheral device to execute a specific function within thesoftware. The system/method/device of the present disclosure may include(i) one or more non-transitory computer-readable recording mediums thatstore the software, (ii) one or more processors (e.g., for executing thesoftware or for providing other functionality), and (iii) a necessaryhardware device (e.g., a hardware interface). Additionally, anyrecitation herein of receiver/transmitter may be construed astransceiver, such that any unit with a receiver/transmitter is capableof transceiving.

The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the disclosure and its practical application to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure invarious embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. Aspects of the disclosed embodiments may bemixed to arrive at further embodiments within the scope of theinvention. For example, while permanently affixing the tuning apparatusto the instrument is one preferred embodiment, the tuning apparatus mayalso be removably or semi-permanently affixed to the instrument (e.g.,for repairs or other maintenance, upgrades, etc.).

As various modifications could be made in the constructions and methodsherein described and illustrated without departing from the scope of thedisclosure, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoingdescription or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpretedas illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of thepresent disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-describedexemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with thefollowing claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tuning assembly for tuning a stringed musicalinstrument comprising a plurality of strings configured to vibrate, thetuning assembly comprising: a housing configured to be mounted to a bodyof the stringed musical instrument, the housing including a cavity and aplurality of slots; a printed circuit board stored in the cavity, theprinted circuit board including a controller, a plurality of lightemitters, and a plurality of light sensors; wherein respective ones ofthe plurality of light emitters and light sensors are arranged as aplurality of emitter-sensor pairs comprising one light emitter and onelight sensor per pair, and each emitter-sensor pair is positioned toprotrude into a corresponding slot from amongst the plurality of slotsof the housing, respectively, with each slot of the plurality of slotsbeing positioned in a location underneath a respective string of theplurality of strings of the stringed musical instrument, the pluralityof strings being configured to individually vibrate; and wherein eachlight emitter of the emitter-sensor pairs is configured to emit light ofa certain frequency in a direction of a surface of a correspondingvibrating string of the stringed musical instrument, a portion of theemitted light from each light emitter is reflected from the surface ofthe corresponding vibrating string in a direction toward thecorresponding light sensor, each light sensor is configured to sense thecorresponding reflected light and generate a respective outputrepresentative of the corresponding reflected light for each vibratingstring, and the controller receives and processes the outputs toindependently and simultaneously determine a tuning property of eachvibrating string, and, based on the tuning properties, generates dynamictuning information for each vibrating string.
 2. The tuning assemblyaccording to claim 1, further comprises an electronic display inelectrical connection with the printed circuit board for providing adynamic graphical representation of the dynamic tuning information foreach vibrating string.
 3. The tuning assembly according to claim 2,wherein the electronic display is capable of displaying the dynamicgraphical representation to a user of the stringed musical instrument,such that the dynamic graphical representation is usable by the user toassist the user in tuning the stringed musical instrument.
 4. The tuningassembly according to claim 3, wherein the dynamic graphicalrepresentation includes a visualization that dynamically indicates atuning status of each string of the stringed musical instrument.
 5. Thetuning assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality oflight emitters is an ultraviolet light-emitting diode, and each of theplurality of light sensors is an ultraviolet light photodiode or anultraviolet light phototransistor.
 6. The tuning assembly according toclaim 1, wherein the tuning property comprises pitch data of theplurality of vibrating strings.
 7. A method of tuning a stringed musicalinstrument comprising a plurality of strings configured to vibrate, thestringed musical instrument further including a housing mounted to abody of the stringed musical instrument, the housing including a cavityand a plurality of slots, and a printed circuit board stored in thecavity, the printed circuit board including a controller, a plurality oflight emitters, and a plurality of light sensors, wherein respectiveones of the plurality of light emitters and light sensors are arrangedas a plurality of emitter-sensor pairs comprising one light emitter andone light sensor per pair, and each emitter-sensor pair is positioned toprotrude into a corresponding slot from amongst the plurality of slotsof the housing, respectively, with each slot of the plurality of slotsbeing positioned in a location underneath a respective string of theplurality of strings of the stringed musical instrument, the pluralityof strings being configured to individually vibrate, the methodcomprising: emitting, via each light emitter of the emitter-sensorpairs, light of a certain frequency in a direction of a surface of acorresponding vibrating string of the stringed musical instrument, aportion of the emitted light from each light emitter being reflectedfrom the surface of the corresponding vibrating string in a directiontoward the corresponding light sensor; sensing, via each light sensor,the corresponding reflected light; generating, via each light sensor, arespective output representative of the corresponding reflected lightfor each vibrating string; receiving, via the controller, the outputs;processing the outputs, via the controller, to independently andsimultaneously determine a tuning property of each vibrating string; andbased on the tuning properties, generating dynamic tuning informationfor each vibrating string.
 8. The method according to claim 7, furthercomprising an electronic display in electrical connection to the printedcircuit board, and the method further comprises providing a dynamicgraphical representation of the dynamic tuning information.
 9. Themethod according to claim 8, further comprising displaying via theelectronic display, the dynamic graphical representation to the user ofthe musical stringed instrument, such that the dynamic graphicalrepresentation is usable by the user to assist the user in tuning thestringed musical instrument.
 10. The method according to claim 8,wherein the dynamic graphical representation includes a visualizationthat dynamically indicates a tuning status of each string of thestringed musical instrument.
 11. The method according to claim 7,wherein each of the plurality of light emitters is an ultravioletlight-emitting diode, and each of the plurality of light sensors is anultraviolet light photodiode or an ultraviolet light phototransistor.12. The method according to claim 7, wherein the tuning propertycomprises pitch data of the plurality of vibrating strings.
 13. Acomputer program product for a tuning device for tuning a stringedmusical instrument comprising a plurality of strings configured tovibrate, the stringed musical instrument further including a housingmounted to a body of the stringed musical instrument, the housingincluding a cavity and a plurality of slots, and a printed circuit boardstored in the cavity, the printed circuit board including a controller,a plurality of light emitters, and a plurality of light sensors, whereinrespective ones of the plurality of light emitters and light sensors arearranged as a plurality of emitter-sensor pairs comprising one lightemitter and one light sensor per pair, and each emitter-sensor pair ispositioned to protrude into a corresponding slot from amongst theplurality of slots of the housing, respectively, with each slot of theplurality of slots being positioned in a location underneath arespective string of the plurality of strings of the stringed musicalinstrument, the plurality of strings being configured to individuallyvibrate, the computer program product comprising: a plurality ofinstructions resident on a non-transitory computer-readable recordingmedium, wherein the instructions are executable by a processor to causethe processor to control: emitting, via each light emitter of theemitter-sensor pairs, light of a certain frequency in a direction of asurface of a corresponding vibrating string of the stringed musicalinstrument, a portion of the emitted light from each light emitter beingreflected from the surface of the corresponding vibrating string in adirection toward the corresponding light sensor; sensing, via each lightsensor, the corresponding reflected light; generating, via each lightsensor, a respective output representative of the correspondingreflected light for each vibrating string; receiving, via thecontroller, the outputs; processing the outputs, via the controller, toindependently and simultaneously determine a tuning property of eachvibrating string; and based on the tuning properties, generating dynamictuning information for each vibrating string.
 14. The computer programproduct according to claim 13, further comprises an electronic displayin electrical connection with the printed circuit board for providing adynamic graphical representation of the dynamic tuning information foreach vibrating string.
 15. The computer program product according toclaim 14, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor tofurther cause the processor to control: displaying, via the electronicdisplay, the dynamic graphical representation to a user of the stringedmusical instrument, such that the dynamic graphical representation isusable by the user to assist the user in tuning the stringed musicalinstrument.
 16. The computer program product according to claim 14,wherein the dynamic graphical representation includes a visualizationthat dynamically indicates a tuning status of each string of thestringed musical instrument.
 17. The computer program product accordingto claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of light emitters is anultraviolet light-emitting diode, and each of the plurality of lightsensors is an ultraviolet light photodiode or an ultraviolet lightphototransistor.
 18. The computer program product according to claim 13,wherein the tuning property comprises pitch data of the plurality ofvibrating strings.